Five Whitehall departments are preparing to raid the overseas aid budget to avoid their own spending cuts under plans endorsed by David Cameron yesterday.

The Prime Minister signalled he would let some of Britain’s international aid budget be switched to the Ministry of Defence.

The Foreign Office, the Department for Education, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs could also benefit.

Funding switch: Prime Minister David Cameron (left) has endorsed plans to switch some of the international aid budget to the Ministry of Defence in order to stop a revolt against George Osborne's (right) spending cuts

The aid seizures are designed to defuse a Cabinet revolt against George Osborne’s demand for £11.5billion cuts in the Coalition’s spending review.

Most secretaries of state are said to have flatly refused to provide savings totalling 10 per cent of their budgets for 2015/16, instead submitting proposals to the Treasury that fall short of that target.

Under plans being discussed by Downing Street and the Treasury, money earmarked for international aid will be channelled to the MoD for non-lethal missions such as conflict prevention and peacekeeping.

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The MoD will also charge the Department for International Development (DfID) for ferrying its staff around in military aircraft and the use of body armour in conflict zones.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will get millions for its malaria prevention research project. Schemes funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to create new feed crops for the developing world, and by the Department for Education to help schools overseas could also get extra cash.

The plans will still allow the Government to hit its target of spending 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid, as long as the spending is sanctioned by international bodies.

Benefits: Other Whitehall departments could be better off under the proposals

But by funnelling cash from the DfID, Mr Cameron will placate Tory backbenchers who believe other departments are suffering unnecessarily.

Speaking on Radio 4’s World At One, he said: ‘It’s right that we ask the question what aid actually consists of. There are vaccination programmes, helping the poorest people grow food, making sure people go to school.

'The rules already allow some of your aid money to be spent on security issues.’

Mr Cameron also confirmed part of the NHS budget will go to councils to pay for social care, adding: ‘There’s enormous pressure on adult social care budgets. Part of that is a health issue.’

The redistribution of budgets follows demands by the Chancellor for ministers with unprotected budgets to make cuts of 10 per cent with a view to finding final savings of 7 per cent.